The underground armory remained completely silent.
Nobody moved.
Nobody even seemed capable of speaking properly anymore.
The impossible had happened directly in front of them.
The weapon that killed everyone who touched it now rested peacefully in Kaien Veyr's hand like it had always belonged there.
Golden-black energy still moved faintly across the surface of the spear while ancient markings glowed softly along the weapon's shaft. The containment alarms had stopped completely now. Even the automated defense systems surrounding the chamber no longer identified Vijaya as unstable.
As if the spear itself had calmed down the moment Kaien touched it.
That terrified everyone even more.
Several officers stared at him with pale expressions while the technicians monitoring containment systems frantically checked readings across nearby holographic displays.
"Energy levels stabilized…"
"That's impossible…"
"The weapon's output dropped to near zero…"
"No biological rejection detected…"
Their voices echoed nervously throughout the armory afterward.
Kaien himself remained strangely calm.
The moment Vijaya entered his hand, something inside him settled.
Like reclaiming a missing part of himself.
Not fully.
But enough to quiet the endless unrest buried inside his soul since this life began.
Fragments of memory still moved through his mind faintly now.
Karna holding Vijaya beneath the Kurukshetra sky.
Arin reclaiming the shattered fragments across endless trials.
The final battle against the Entity.
And now—
the weapon had returned again.
Different form.
Different world.
Same existence.
Kaien quietly tightened his grip around the spear afterward while feeling the immense power sleeping within it.
Not active yet.
Restrained somehow.
But alive.
Very alive.
Then suddenly—
"KAIEN!"
The roar echoed throughout the armory sharply.
Kaien slowly looked up afterward.
Elias Veyr stood several meters away now, his expression darker than Kaien had ever seen before.
Not fear.
Anger.
Real anger.
And beneath it—
something worse.
Relief.
Because for several horrifying seconds, Elias genuinely believed his son had just killed himself in front of him.
The officers nearby immediately regained composure afterward too.
"Disarm him immediately."
Two armed security squads moved forward cautiously afterward, though nobody looked eager to approach Vijaya directly anymore.
Kaien calmly lowered the spear slightly afterward but made no move to surrender it.
The atmosphere immediately grew tense again.
One officer stepped forward sharply.
"You ignored direct command from superior officers."
Another continued coldly,
"You breached classified containment protocol."
A third added,
"And illegally removed restricted military property."
Kaien quietly listened without reacting.
The officer's expression hardened afterward.
"Do you understand the severity of what you just did?"
"…yes."
"You could've triggered catastrophic containment failure."
Kaien glanced toward Vijaya briefly afterward before calmly answering,
"No."
That response instantly worsened the tension in the room.
"What?"
Kaien finally looked directly toward the officers afterward.
"It wouldn't have hurt me."
Silence followed immediately afterward.
Because somehow—
the terrifying part was that everyone present now believed him.
Elias eventually walked forward afterward before stopping directly in front of Kaien.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then finally—
Elias quietly said,
"Give me the spear."
Kaien's grip tightened slightly.
"No."
Several officers immediately reacted again afterward.
But Elias raised one hand stopping them instantly.
His eyes never left Kaien's face.
"…why?"
Kaien looked toward Vijaya silently for a moment afterward.
How could he explain this?
How could he explain that the weapon wasn't merely some ancient artifact?
That it had crossed worlds.
Lives.
Timelines.
That somewhere deep inside his soul, this spear felt more familiar than anything else in this world.
Finally, he answered honestly.
"Because it belongs to me."
The room fell silent once more afterward.
Not arrogance.
Not rebellion.
Kaien said it with absolute certainty.
Like someone stating an undeniable fact.
One of the senior officers scoffed quietly afterward.
"You expect us to accept that explanation?"
Kaien calmly answered,
"No."
Elias closed his eyes briefly afterward before exhaling slowly.
The situation had already gone beyond normal military procedure now.
The weapon stabilized only for Kaien.
Containment systems completely changed behavior around him.
No fatal reaction occurred.
There was no logical explanation left anymore.
Which made everything even more dangerous politically.
Because if Dominion Command learned a teenager could wield an unidentified superweapon nobody else survived touching—
Kaien would immediately become military property.
Experimentation.
Research.
Weaponization.
Elias understood that reality instantly.
And judging from the expressions around the room—
the other officers understood it too.
That meant one thing.
This incident needed containment immediately.
One of the commanders finally spoke again afterward.
"Under normal circumstances, Trainee Veyr would be arrested immediately."
Another officer nodded sharply.
"Court-martial procedures at minimum."
"Possibly imprisonment under military violation statutes."
The words echoed coldly throughout the armory.
Kaien remained expressionless.
He truly didn't care much about the consequences right now.
The moment he touched Vijaya, something inside him had already shifted permanently.
He could feel it.
Like destiny itself quietly changing direction again.
Elias eventually stepped toward the tactical displays nearby afterward before speaking firmly.
"The retrieval mission takes priority."
Several officers immediately looked toward him.
"The mission window closes within hours." Elias continued.
"If we delay now, those girls die."
Silence followed again afterward.
Because unfortunately—
he was right.
The mission already balanced on impossible timing. Any further delay would allow enemy forces to relocate the captives deeper into contested territory permanently.
One of the officers folded his arms tightly afterward.
"So what? We simply ignore what happened here?"
"No." Elias answered immediately.
His gaze shifted toward Kaien afterward.
"The consequences remain."
Kaien quietly watched him afterward while the atmosphere turned colder again.
Elias's voice became purely official now.
"Trainee Kaien Veyr."
Kaien instinctively straightened slightly afterward.
"For violating direct military command…"
"For breaching classified containment protocols…"
"And for unauthorized acquisition of restricted military property…"
The words echoed sharply through the armory.
"You will face full interrogation and disciplinary review upon return from this mission."
One officer added coldly afterward,
"If you return."
Nobody corrected him.
Because survival remained unlikely.
Elias continued calmly despite that.
"Until mission completion, disciplinary action is temporarily suspended under emergency operational necessity."
Kaien understood immediately.
Temporary freedom.
Nothing more.
The moment he returned—
military command would question him relentlessly about Vijaya.
What it was.
Why he could wield it.
What happened inside the containment chamber.
And if they decided he represented a threat—
things would become much worse afterward.
Yet strangely enough—
none of that bothered him right now.
Because the moment Vijaya touched his hand, one thing became painfully clear inside his soul.
Something massive was approaching.
Not just war.
Something older.
More dangerous.
And somehow—
Vijaya returning now could not be coincidence.
The cycle was moving again.
Kaien quietly rested the spear against his shoulder afterward.
Then calmly asked,
"When do I depart?"
The officers exchanged uneasy looks afterward.
One finally answered quietly,
"Immediately."
Thirty minutes later, Kaien stood alone inside the underground departure hangar beneath Novaris Military Command.
Rain hammered against the massive reinforced launch doors overhead while stealth transport systems prepared for deployment nearby. Emergency warning lights reflected across the dark metallic floor while mechanics hurried around the hangar making final adjustments to infiltration equipment.
Kaien adjusted the dark tactical cloak covering most of his combat gear afterward while Vijaya remained secured across his back beneath specialized restraints hastily modified for the spear's unusual structure.
Nobody wanted to touch the weapon directly anymore.
Even now, soldiers passing nearby avoided looking at it too long.
The air around Vijaya felt strange.
Heavy somehow.
Ancient.
Elias eventually approached through the hangar afterward carrying a small data module in one hand.
For several moments neither spoke.
The tension between them still lingered heavily after the armory incident.
Finally, Elias handed him the module quietly.
"Extraction routes."
Kaien accepted it silently afterward.
Elias hesitated briefly afterward before speaking again.
"…you scared the hell out of me back there."
Kaien looked away slightly.
"…sorry."
The apology came naturally.
And surprisingly—
honestly.
Elias sighed quietly afterward while running one hand through tired hair.
"You've been doing strange things since childhood."
Kaien remained silent.
"But tonight…"
Elias looked toward the spear secured behind him afterward.
"That wasn't normal."
Kaien quietly answered afterward,
"I know."
Silence settled briefly again afterward while distant thunder echoed outside the hangar.
Then finally—
Elias stepped closer.
"When this mission ends…"
His voice lowered slightly now.
"…they're going to ask questions."
Kaien already knew that.
"A lot of questions."
His father's expression hardened slightly afterward.
"And I need you to understand something carefully."
Kaien looked toward him again.
"If Dominion High Command believes that weapon can shift the balance of war…"
Elias paused briefly afterward.
"…they will never let you go."
Those words lingered heavily between them afterward.
Not threat.
Warning.
Kaien slowly looked toward Vijaya afterward.
Then toward the rain-covered launch doors ahead.
Somehow deep inside—
he felt this mission would change everything.
Not just for the war.
For him.
For the cycle.
For the forgotten memories slowly waking again inside his soul.
And somewhere far beyond the battlefield waiting ahead—
two girls carrying fragments of someone he once loved still waited for him without either side realizing fate had already connected them long before this life even began.